Munchin' on my Heart, Baby
by auspizien
Summary: It wasn't the crappy motels that smelt of stale sex, it wasn't the shitty fast food, it wasn't even the frustration of travelling with a man that seemed oblivious to his feelings. It was how he was spending his Valentine's Day strapped down and about to have his chest ripped open by some demon when he was supposed to be getting laid. OPxSPN - ZosanSecretValentine; for NightRhain


**A/N: For the ZoSan Secret Valentine on tumblr, for NightRhain. I chose to do a Supernatural crossover because her blog is filled with SPN and I thought she might like a bit of ZoSan in that universe :) Happy Valentine's Day! (I had originally worked in all four prompts plus a sex scene, but the word count was far too high. So for now I post this; and maybe will add extended version later.)**

**Prompts:**

**Zoro uses Sanji's tie to accomplish something**

**Zoro brushes Sanji's hair out of his eyes**

* * *

The click of the truck door opening had Sanji setting aside the papers he had been mulling over as he glanced at the man currently climbing into the cab of the old beaten up Toyota Hilux. A loud creak from the hinges could be heard as the Third Generation N30 was in desperate need of some WD40 sprayed into its entire system. Not to mention a new paint job. But all of these complaints Sanji had long ago stopped making since the owner always wrote it off as unnecessary.

It didn't take a genius however to figure out that there was much more than just stubbornness to Zoro's behaviour concerning the truck. There was a large dose of sentimentality towards this old hunk of junk, and while it may not look like much it was all Zoro had left of his old life. And as much as it humbled Sanji to admit it, this was home.

Feet crammed under the dash from the too small cab causing his knees to press uncomfortably against the glove box, or resting his crossed ankles up on the heat vent of the dash as he flicked through newspapers and various printed articles looking for work. On warmer days in the summer he'd have his legs kicked out the window as his head rested on the seat, just barely touching Zoro's thigh as he would read the map and make sure they were on the right course.

Cheap motels that smelt like a cacophonous mixture of every human that had ever passed through as well as the dubiously recognizable scent of the sexual activities that had transpired on the bed no doubt thousands of times. The creaky beds that had never once been cleaned, save for the new sheets that were put on every once in a while by the uncaring housemaid. And the shitty peeling wall paper that was always some form of depressing maroon paisley or sunflowers that looked on the verge of death. A room in a building where he slept; just like all the rest. Never comforting, never home.

He slept better in the truck with Zoro's heavy leather jacket thrown over his shoulders.

Shitty grab-n-go food that only slightly made up for the fact that he had brutally murdered creatures the previous day, and that sickeningly sweet taste of homemade apple pie seemed to only slightly chase away the demons that were always lurking. Foil wrapped. Cardboard boxed. Paper bag. Plastic container. His consummation life consisted of single servings of food in pre-wrapped carrying cases that ensured he could let it sit under his seat for a day or two before finishing it. Sanji couldn't remember the last time he had cooked over a stove.

And as Zoro climbed into the cab, slamming the creaky door behind him, Sanji eyed up the greasy foil wrapped burgers in the man's arms with only slight disdain. Tossing a burger to Sanji with a grin the man didn't even pause before pulling back the foil wrapping and taking a large bite of the artery clogging meal. The crunch of lettuce clearly audible as Zoro seemed intent on eating nearly half the burger in a single bite.

"You really should be eating healthier..." Sanji commented off hand, knowing it was a lost cause, but nonetheless finding solace in bugging him.

"Mm." Zoro grunted around his mouthful of food, groaning at the taste before swallowing, hand coming up to swipe across his lips and lowering, leaving a large oily streak of grease on the back of his hand, "The way I see it; I deserve this."

At Sanji's cocked brow of speculation the man continued with a jerky point to his burger as he protested, "I spent all morning chasing down that fucking werewolf; I worked off more than enough calories to justify eating this."

"That's not the point." Sanji scoffed, "You eat like a potential diabetic."

Zoro cast a glance down at his torso, making a show of eyeing himself up before glancing back at Sanji, "I look fine to me."

Despite the slight moment of Sanji's eyes lingering on Zoro's midriff, he couldn't help but silently agree with the man that he did look fine. He always did. Worn out black shirts that had seen too few washes and were thread bare from all the time he spent working in them, Levi jeans that had more blood and and dirt stains in them than they did food stains, and his heavy musk ridden leather jacket that he had refused to get rid of now matter how many times he needed it restitched.

"Whatever." Sanji huffed dismissively, purposefully turning his eyes towards the paper in his lap as he forcefully reminded himself not to obviously check out the man, "Give yourself heart failure."

"Anything interesting?" Zoro asked, gesturing to the papers with his elbow as he refused to let go of his burger, ignoring Sanji's jibes and remaining oblivious to the blond's interested gaze.

"A few." Sanji muttered as he set his burger down in his lap and pulled out the few articles that he had deemed questionable, "A few disappearances in Zachary, Louisiana."

"Probably human." Zoro grouched back without looking up from his meal. Sanji only sent the man an annoyed glance, hating when the man was so quickly dismissive. Picking up the next article he quickly scanned it to refreshed his memory before grinning.

"Oh, this one you'll like." Sanji perked up, "Man pinned to his shed wall by a shovel. Woman pierced through the head by pitchfork to a tree. And, get this, elderly lady gets a hoe through her spine. I think the journalist missed out on a fantastic opportunity to make a garden related joke in the article..."

"Winchesters are on it."

"Fuck, really?" Sanji threw the now useless paper to the floor of the cab, "How'd you know?"

"Saw that article. Asked around." Zoro grunted, "Said they passed through few a few days ago heading for Georgia, seemed like something they'd go for."

"Okay, fine." Sanji huffed in annoyance, trying to squash down his interest for the case as he grasped the last paper he had, "Last one. Jackson, Mississippi. Heart's being ripped out of chests."

"Werewolf?"

"Possibly. But there's some other creepy shit going on. Apparently a month before, the coroner at the local morgue had been reporting organs going missing from her lab."

"Wolves don't go for stale hearts..." Zoro mulled curiously, already fiddling in his pocket for his keys as he balanced his burger in his free hand, "This could be good."

~X~

The first thing that came into Sanji's blurred consciousness was an annoying throb near the back of his head. A burning pounding sensation that came from being slugged a bit too hard. Judging from the bump he could feel growing, he would guess is as a quarter inch lead pipe. It was becoming a bit odd with how well he could profile an injury; it probably gave testament to how long he had been in the hunter lifestyle.

Cracking open his eyes he quietly cursed himself as he realized his mistake of getting jumped. It was just his luck he put his guard down, and now he found himself strapped to an old circular saw table in an abandoned shack. A kerosene lamp in the corner all that illuminated the dingy place.

A smell of blood was rank in the air as it became apparent from the state of the area that it was the feeding ground for the creature that him and Zoro had originally come to Jackson, Mississippi to hunt. Craning his neck he managed to get a fair look around the place before he noticed the red haired vixen watching him from the corner of the room. Letting his head fall back with a groan, already berating himself on his stupidity.

They had arrived in Jackson earlier that day, getting some local info on the killings before they had went to coroner's office in their standard CIA disguises. The case in and of itself had been intriguing, with the corpse of the man showing a very peculiar style of killing – nothing like the brutality of wolves. It had also ended with Sanji getting a date for Valentine's with the beautiful red haired coroner. The very woman now lurking in the abandoned shack that was seemingly behind all these late night attacks.

"Oh boy, what are you?" Sanji drawled humorously. How did he always get so unlucky with women?

"Don't recognize me?" The woman balked, stalking forward as she loomed over his bound figure with a hungry grin, "Well, it's not like I'd expect you to."

With a flickering blink the woman's eyes dispersed their golden brown hue to be replaced by two pits of soulless black marbles, reflecting no light and only portraying the darkness within.

"Great." Sanji just rolled his eyes. He wasn't about to give in to the fear that the demon wanted him to experience. Enough times nearly being killed by spirits had given him an immunity to that, and also a very dismissive behaviour. "What do you want?"

"Hmpf." The demon huffed in obvious annoyance, the crease to her brow giving away far more than she probably intended, "Figures you and that Roronoa boy of yours would be so ignorant."

That caught Sanji's attention, as he wearily eyed up the demon, "What are you talking about?"

"Baltimore. Two months ago." The demon hissed, "You caught my friend in a Devil's Trap and killed him."

"Didn't realize demons had 'friends'." Sanji muttered patronizingly as he watched the demon curiously. He vaguely remembered the hunt that he and Zoro had done, but he hadn't thought that they would get any repercussions for it.

"Regardless," The demon continued, dismissively ignoring Sanji's taunting, "I figured that facing you two head on was too risky so I decided to set up a case for you. I was surprised how easily you took the bait."

"So you were stealing deceased organs and killing people just to get us here?" Sanji growled, not sure whether he was infuriated with the demon, or at himself for being the true cause for the deaths of the innocent locals.

"Pretty much." The demon shrugged playfully, before her sharp eyes flickered down to eye up Sanji's chest for a moment before looking back, "But even though I only have you for now, I think you'll be plenty useful against that green-haired numbskull."

"What are yo-" Sanji's words of confusion cut off in shocked fear as the demon peeled back the blond's shirt to reveal the anti-demon seal underneath as he began to realize what the demon was planning.

Hand trailing down his chest slowly as she eyed the mark on Sanji's chest with disdain, "These marks have been a pretty pesky annoyance to us demons, but I've been lucky enough to get you in a compromising position."

Without even stalling to give Sanji a moment to try and dissuade the demon, her nails dug sharply into the skin as Sanji bit down on his lip to keep from screaming in pain, blood trailing from his pierced skin as he began to feel an even worse sensation on his chest. Sharp nails working underneath the skin as the demon wrenched off the entire seal with one swift motion, tossing the skin aside and leaning away to lick at her bloody fingers victoriously.

Sanji released his bloody lip with a pained gasp, dragging air into his body to try and compensate for the pain that was near to knocking the wind from him. He could feel the blood dripping down the side of his body and trailing down his torso to pool in his navel as the wound stung while profusely exuding blood.

"Oh, sorry." The demon crooned, "Did that hurt?"

"Fuck you." Sanji grunted, spitting a mouthful of blood at the demon as he tried to reign in the pain currently radiating from his chest.

"Keep being mouthy, you little shit." The demon mocked, bloody hand coming up to grip his jaw in a brutal grip, "Soon I'll be inside of you, and I'll make you watch as I kill your partner."

"Who exactly will you be killing?"

Sanji's head whipped to the side as he heard the sarcastic words uttered from his partner, eyes lighting up as he found Zoro standing into the doorway to the small hut, machete in hand and shit eating grin on his face. Relief washed across his face as he realized Zoro must have tracked his phone here after he had missed responding to a phone call from the other. It was always reassuring to know Zoro could figure out a case on his own and get to the right places on time without getting lost.

The demon looked up immediately, a moment of shock before she growled, "You."

"Me." Zoro grinned cockily, eyes flickering to Sanji whom let out a sharp breath and already started working on getting his wrists loose, "How's the date going, curly?"

"Shut your fucking mouth." Sanji shot back venomously.

The demon hissed venomously, glaring down Zoro with obvious disgust as Zoro levelled his machete on the woman, jaw set as the man was obviously prepared to take down the creature. And for a moment the demon seemed weary of Zoro, eyes flickering between the man's face and the blade pointed toward her before finally settling on Sanji.

A small smile formed on her lips as Sanji realized what she was planning. Sanji's face drained of colour, and before he even had a chance to shout for Zoro to run, the blackness engulfed his vision and his body was no longer his own.

~X~

The first thing that Zoro noticed as he came to was the pounding pain coming from the back of his skull, the second was that there was an annoying amount of chaffing at his wrists. Shaking his head lightly to try and remove the horrible ringing in his ears, he slowly opened his eyes, glaring through the brightness of the single kerosene lamp and the person lurking in front of him.

"What...?" Zoro frowned in dazed confusion, blinking away the last vestiges of unconsciousness as he zeroed in on Sanji standing in front of him. It only took a moment to note the black soulless eyes staring back at him maliciously for him to realize what was happening, and another moment to realize he was tied to a chair, "How are you...?"

The demon possessed Sanji chuckled at the question, before stalking forward confidently, hands shoved casually in his pockets with a remarkable imitation of Sanji. Cocking his head to the side, "You mean the mark?"

"Pretty simple actually." Hand coming up to the collar of his blood stained button up, the fabric was torn away to reveal the blond's pectoral and the large bloody gash of skin where his protective seal used to be. The way that the skin was torn made it seem like something had dug its fingers into the skin before ripping off the skin in one rough pull. The only consolation for how nasty it looked was that it wasn't bleeding too bad. At the most Sanji would just need a few stitches.

Glancing back up at the demon he once more felt a little unnerved seeing the normally caring face of his partner leering down at him like he was trying to decide what to eat first. Those normally blue eyes were gone, replaced by soulless back pits that left Zoro minutely freaked out. Reminding himself that this wasn't the first time either one of them had been possessed and funky shit had gone down, he calmed himself and glared back up at the demon calmly. Going for a completely unfazed mien as the demon continued to watch him like a rabid beast.

"Alright." Zoro nodded, "Who the fuck are you?"

"I've been trailing you since Baltimore." The demon hissed, "Since you caught my friend in a trap at the cross roads."

"Hey, he made a deal." Zoro shrugged as he vaguely remembered the small hunt he and Sanji had done while bored one evening, "He just trusted the wrong people."

"Yeah, well now it's gonna end in your death." The demon growled, "How does that make you feel?"

"Spectacular Dr. Phil." Zoro drawled, slyly working the small concealed knife from the hidden pocket in the cuff of his jacket, slowly sliding it over the ropes over his wrists. Keeping his face blank as he felt the first few threads give way.

"You're not as unreadable as you'd like to think." The demon spat with an annoyed scowl. "You act like nothing can hurt you in this world, but I think I found your greatest flaw..."

That only had Zoro raising a single brow in question, watching the black eyes steadily as he tried to focus past the appearance and remember the evil lurking underneath. It was still so hard to get past the face and remember – as sick as it was – Sanji was only a mask at the moment.

"It's him, isn't it?" The demon asked with a smirk, "I can practically smell the terror on you."

At Zoro's lack of response the demon just continued on with a cocky grin.

"I can see everything going on inside his head right now, you know?" The demon murmured in a false pained tone as the black eyes flickered down to look at the body it was currently inhabiting, "There's so much pain, and it's all because of you."

Those black eyes flicked back up to bore into Zoro's, an unnatural smirk curling Sanji's lips as the demon bit out through a humoured grin, "You're more of a demon than I am."

Scowling lightly he ignored the words that he knew where just meant to rile him up as he focused on getting the ropes cut faster. The sooner he got free the sooner he could make sure the demon didn't force Sanji's body into some freaky exorcist poses and break his spine.

"Did you know he loves you?" The demon crooned playfully as he slowly circled around Zoro's bound form, arms coming to slink around Zoro's neck as Sanji's face appeared over his shoulder. Demon hissing into his ear with a pained little sigh, "Did you know how much pain he puts up with for you?"

That had Zoro fighting down a pained jolt of guilt. Yes, he was aware of Sanji's feelings, he was aware of his own as well. But things like this were the exact reason why he couldn't reciprocate anything toward the man. One thing he had learned from his former life, before being dragged into the world of monsters; ignorance is bliss. The less he felt for the blond, the less painful it would be if he lost him.

"You want to know what he really wants?" The demon questioned with playful curiosity.

"No." Zoro muttered quietly, first spoken words since the demon had begun taunting him, face finally loosing its laxness as he sent a small glare towards the demon, "I would prefer to hear it from him, instead of a parasite like you."

The demon tsked disapprovingly, "You are rude, Roronoa."

"I don't need to be lectured on my rudeness by a demon."

"Maybe not." The demon chuckled, and for a few moments it genuinely sounded like Sanji's original laugh, before the demon dropped forward. Hands gripping Zoro's knees painfully as Sanji's distorted face was shoved into his as the demon spoke, "But I thought we already learned that you are far more of a demon than me."

"Sure, I kill and manipulate. But I do it honestly. I admit to my sins." Sanji's demon rolled its eyes casually as he spoke, "And yet you kill and try to justify your actions by saying you save people. You drag Sanji through hell and ignore all of his emotions because you think it's easier to pretend they don't exist than risk losing it. That's true evil, Roronoa."

Jaw tightening as he grit his teeth, biting back the angered words he instinctively wanted to yell at the creature. Though his twitch of fury didn't go unnoticed by the demon whom only chuckled.

"At least I admit that what I do is wrong."

At that Zoro turned his head to the side, refusing to look at the man any longer. Not willing to let the demon play these mind games with him. The demon seemed hardly finished as he squeezed Zoro's knees even harder, taking the grip past painful.

"Want to know more?" The demon question rhetorically, "Did you know he wants to take you away; take you as far away from demons and evil spirits as possible. To go live in some dreary safe house in the middle of American suburbia where you'll both be safe."

Zoro looked away, refusing to acknowledge the words being spoken in Sanji's voice. These weren't meant for him to hear, though it would be almost more painful to hear it spoken from Sanji himself. How could he possibly tell the man that despite loving him, he couldn't give him the life he deserved?

"And he wants you so bad." The demon breathed out heavily, panting a desperate little moan against Zoro's ear as he let a false shiver run through the blond's body, "If only you could _feel_ how much he wants you. I almost pity him for holding out for you for so long..."

Small blade finally getting through the last bit of rope Zoro kept his face impassive as the now useless rope hung limply from his wrists. Keeping himself calm as he waited for the right moment to strike as he carefully turned the blade around until the tip was pressing into his palm. Masking his wince of pain as he began carving a seal into the flesh of his hand.

The demon pulled away, watching Zoro with humoured eyes that danced with glee, "I wonder how you'd feel if I just broke his neck right now?"

Zoro forced himself to remain impassive and yet inside he felt a jolt of fear so powerful he was close to nauseous. Clamping down hard on his emotions to keep the demon from realizing just how terrified that thought made him. And it brought to light a stark reality that he hadn't been forced to face for a long time, something that had meant anything to him the first time he had saved Sanji from dying; and yet know was so bloody horrifying it had him nearly dropping his knife in his panic.

He couldn't live without Sanji.

Extending a hand the demon gripped his own pinky, levelling Zoro with an unimpressed look before wrenching the finger back suddenly. The distinct crack echoed in the small room, making Zoro's stomach clench nauseously as he paused in his carving of the seal to stare at the now deformed finger on the blond's hand. The act made it so much more clearer that the demon had no qualms in breaking all of Sanji's body.

"Now there's the reaction I was looking for!" The demon crooned happily, "I was right all along; he is your little weak spot. How about it Roronoa? Ready to sit by and watch as I slowly kill your lover boy from the inside out?"

Fear and anger taking control, Zoro dropped the knife as he lunged forward in a swift motion, tackling the demon back onto the ground, hand clamping across Sanji's mouth, sealing the blond's mouth with the palm of his hand currently bloodied with a makeshift Devil's Trap. Leaning back as hard as he could he kept the demon trapped inside Sanji while he tugged sharply on the blond's tie, suffocating the man as harmlessly as he could. It took several dangerous moments of struggling before the demon fell limp in his arms.

~X~

With an angry jerk Zoro splashed a handful of Holy Water on the demon and relished as it snapped awake with a fitful of angry hisses. Trying to jerk away from the water, but finding itself unable to move thanks to the binds that had so graciously already set up.

"What's with all these bonds, Roronoa?!" The demon hissed angrily, though still trying to sound in control, "Thinking of having your naughty way with me?"

Ignoring the demon's obvious jabs to get at him, he muttered, "I need to make sure you don't hurt him."

"Oh, and suddenly you care about how much pain he's in?" The demon mocked, "If I broke his neck it'd be nothing compared to the damaged you've done in here already, Roronoa."

Zoro couldn't help but cringe guiltily at the words; knowing that what the demon was saying was partially true. But he had only ever stayed vigilant to keep Sanji safe.

"Oo!" The demon jumped excitedly within the binds, "Was that a flash of guilt I saw? Are you actually remorseful for what you've done? Don't tell me you care for him after all you've put him through?"

Zoro's scowl hardened, refusing to be dragged into the demon's games as he snatched up the ragged bible from his duffel bag, beginning to flip through to the book marked page. It didn't stop the demon from heckling him however, still hissing false words that he knew were just to throw him off his game.

"But you've put him through so much..." The demon trailed off with a morose cluck of his tongue, "And that time you rescued him and first introduced him to monsters; do you still honestly believe you saved him?"

Page found Zoro glanced up at the demon inhabiting Sanji's body, the maniacal grin and black eyes seemingly so creepily out of place that it sent a small shiver up his back. However the words of the demon still rung in his ears as he muttered quietly, "He's grateful I saved his life; just like I am for all the times he's saved me."

"But did you really save him?" The demon spat, "You wanna know what I see? What Sanji feels?"

Zoro wanted to say no, knew he was supposed to deny it and not allow the demon to play its games, but he couldn't find the resolve to shake his head against the small pit of growing doubt in his stomach. Sanji had never really given an inkling otherwise, but was he truly upset for Zoro dragging him into this life with him? Bible loosely held in his left hand he just stared at the demon in slight fear.

"That's right!" The demon goaded happily, "He loathes you for it. Bringing him into this world of pain, monsters and death. There's nothing good about what you do, no light in the dark, no candle in the window. You dragged him into this pitiful void and as you tread deeper he has no choice but to follow you. Deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole until one day he'll die because of your recklessness."

Zoro swallowed slowly, the words making everything feel dry and thick in his mouth as the words slowly sunk in. Had saving Sanji really made his life worse? Had dragging him into this constant death defying lifestyle really caused the blond so much pain? He'd known about Sanji's affections but he hadn't thought the blond would be so foolhardy about it...

"Can you picture it?" The demon cackled, "You'll be on your knees, holding his corpse after some hunt, but it won't be the creature's fault. No. It'll be all yours. Don't ever fool yourself in to thinking that whatever happens to this boy is a fact of life; everything that happens to him is entirely your fault."

"Could you handle it? Seeing all the blood?" The demon licked its lips slowly, "Seeing his neck bent at an odd angle? Or his heart ripped from his chest? What about drained dry by a vampire? Or sucked lifeless by a djjin? Can you just picture his cold lifeless body when you find it? I can. And I can tell you the look on his face will be the first look of peace he'll have had since meeting yo-"

"SHUT UP!" Zoro bellowed angrily, not sure if his currently swelling hatred was because of the demon's false words or because a part of him feared that he was right...

"Oh, have I touched a nerve?" The demon cocked an eyebrow, doing an impressive imitation of the man he was currently inhabiting.

A wave of disgusted rage swelled up at that and he immediately turned back to the book in his limp hand, "Get out of him, you sick bastard."

A moment later he began chanting the Latin text within the old book, ignoring as it immediately set the demon off into screeches and yelps of pain. Regardless of the fact that they had Sanji's voice he shut it out, desperately reminding himself that it wasn't Sanji that was in pain; it was the demon.

Sanji was always so much better at reading the Latin, but he struggled through the words as the satisfying sounds of the demon slowly being cast away. Smoke rose from the blond's body as the creature was now to the point of screaming in its rage, and as the last word was uttered it let out a blood curdling shriek. The cry echoing through the small building as a flaming ring encircled Sanji as the black smoke was forcibly tugged from the blond's body.

A moment later the scorched circle closed and the Sanji's flailing ceased as everything became eerily quiet. Incantation finished Zoro immediately dropped the book and ran forward, stumbling to his knees in front of Sanji as he wrestled the ridiculous amount of bindings from the blond's head as Sanji still seemed hazed.

Blue eyes blinking away the fog that was no doubt left in the blond's head as he began looking around himself and assessing where he was. When his wandering eyes eventually landed on Zoro a look of relief swept across his face as he tumbled off the table into Zoro's waiting embrace. Groaning softly he curled into Zoro's arms as he muttered, "Fucking demon used by brain for bongo practice."

Masking his sigh of relief with a chuckle Zoro muttered, "Hopefully he knocked some sense into that dopey head of yours."

A small huff left the blond as he peeled back his bloody shirt, inspecting the wound where his seal originally was, "Damn, gonna need a new one."

Gently brushing Sanji's hair aside so he could stare into both of Sanji's amazing, normal blue eyes he revelled in knowing that the blond was unscathed, "How about stitches first?"

"Brilliant."

~X~

Back in the motel room Sanji stood in the bathroom as he finished redressing the bandage over his chest where the demon had ripped off the seal. After a full night's sleep Zoro was already packing up the truck, set on heading out of the town and onto another case. Zoro never took vacations with this life, though he hardly expected the man to anyway.

Making sure he could still move with the bandage he began buttoning up his shirt – being careful to not agitate the broken finger currently in a splint – exiting the bathroom as he found Zoro at the edge of the bed, throwing his duffel bag back together. He watched quietly as the man pulled out a flask of Holy Water, shaking it to see how much was still inside and clearly making a mental note to make more.

Second top button done up Sanji let his hands fall away as he started to remember everything the demon had told the man last night. As terrible as it had been to have the demon in his head, seeing how Zoro had reacted when finally hearing all of his secrets had been somewhat heart wrenching. And yet he still couldn't tell if Zoro cared or not.

Always with that damned mask on like nothing could ever get to him.

As Zoro roughly zipped up his duffel, Sanji wondered if maybe Zoro was intending to leave him here. He couldn't remember how many times the man had ranted about not making bonds because they were too easily severed. Maybe Sanji had blown his chance and this was it. Bag thrown over his shoulder Zoro began to make for the door when Sanji found his voice.

"I remember everything, you know..." Sanji stated lamely, not even sure if he expected a reply or not, and certainly not sure what he was planning on saying afterwards. There really didn't seem like anything else he could say beyond that, the rest they both knew with painful obviousness; it was just a matter of if they ignored it or not.

Zoro froze in the doorway at those words, hand resting on the doorknob as his large duffel filled with weapons and various clothes hung from his shoulder. The lines in Zoro's back were tensed and he seemed to be heavily debating responding to Sanji, or just storming out of the room and to the truck. Sanji wouldn't put it past the man to ignore this just like he did with everything that threatened to make him feel anything.

With a tortured sigh, Zoro turned around as he shucked his duffel from his shoulder and dropping it to the floor as he re-entered the main part of the small motel room. A conflicted look on his face, though still having that hardened scowl of resolve which meant the man wasn't about to walk out mid-argument like he was so prone to doing. The scowl meant they'd either yell until someone came to see if they were okay, or one of them got punched in the face.

"What do you want from me Sanji?" Zoro finally grumbled with a sigh.

"I – I just want you." Sanji admitted quietly, knowing it was far too late to be embarrassed by the words any longer.

"Damn it, Sanji..." Zoro cursed heavily, eyes sliding shut as an odd look of pain flashed across the man's face, a momentary sigh before those eyes had snapped open and were looking back up at Sanji with an almost morose expression, "You know very well I can never live a normal life; not like what you want."

Sanji snarled back angrily, "I don't give two shits about a normal life, not if you're not in it with me! I stay with you, I hunt, because there's nothing that makes me happier than being able to do it with you. If you gave this up, I'd be following you; not some stupid dream house."

That seemed to surprise Zoro somewhat, but he remained silent as he Sanji continued.

"Though I won't lie; I do wish sometimes that we never got involved with this..." Sanji muttered quietly, "If only so I didn't have to constantly deal with the fact that you might die..."

"This isn't the life where you get to grow old and die." Zoro grunted, "You of all people should understand that."

"That's not the point! Don't you get it?! I will have nothing left in my life if I lose you!" Sanji yelled furiously, "I'll have some rusty old piece of shit truck and a trunk full of guns, and I'll be ALONE!"

"Oh, stop being so fucking dramatic!" Zoro scowled angrily, taking an aggressive step forward as his hand came up to cover the large scar that Sanji knew lurked under his shirt, "I'm fucking _covered_ in scars and you want to know why?!"

When Sanji didn't reply, Zoro seemed to calm slightly, releasing his shirt and jerking a hand at Sanji, "It's because of you."

"Wha-"

"Each one of these are a time I could have died; that I would have bled out, or been eaten alive, or been possessed by some spirit or another." Zoro explained quietly, "And these would never have become scars. I'm proud of every single one of these because when I look at them they scream at me that if you hadn't had my back, then they would not exist."

The small speech was probably one of the most talkative moments Zoro had been and it had Sanji staring wide eyed at the man, lost for words as Zoro seemed to be doing his weird version of a thank you.

"Despite how much you're scared of me leaving you alone, I never will." Zoro growled, "Because I'm pretty damn sure you're never going to let that happen!"

Sanji watched Zoro quietly, not daring to speak, though at a loss for words anyway.

"I can't give you that safe life you wanted, but a part of me knows you don't want it anyway. But that doesn't mean I don't want you with me. It's like you said," Zoro murmured quietly, "You're all I really have left..."

Sanji stood quietly for a moment, staring at the man in front of him with a combination of elation and annoyance; his joy at being told such kind words masked slightly by his indignation of having Zoro ignore his emotions so long over something so stupid.

"Why are you so afraid of letting people into your life?" Sanji murmured quietly, watching Zoro with pained eyes. "Why are you so against trusting people?"

"Because it only leads to pain."

Sanji opened his mouth to deny the idiotic words from the man, before closing it slowly, knowing that as painful as it was; the words were true. Despite how much it hurt to admit it, he'd known all along Zoro's reasons for not opening up. He just had never thought that the man would remain so stubborn even after finding out about Sanji's feelings. Letting his head drop he stared down at his feet quietly as the reality began to sink in that nothing was ever going to change.

"But," Zoro managed quietly, causing Sanji to glance up slowly. Eyeing the man as he seemed to watch Sanji with something close to nervousness, "I think I've come to realize that it's far too late to shut you out."

The dawning bit of hope in Sanji's chest was becoming almost painful, as he tried to keep himself from getting excited over words that might not mean anything. And yet it couldn't stop him from listening to Zoro's words in awed hope.

"When that demon threatened to snap your neck..." Zoro closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a slightly wavering breath before looking up at Sanji with a hardened gaze, "I knew that relationship or not, losing you would destroy me."

Standing still, numbed by the words Sanji watched Zoro, hardly daring to believe the words that the man was currently telling him. It seemed too surreal, and yet it was amazingly real. Zoro practically telling him that his emotions weren't being written off; that Zoro was just afraid of losing him as he was of Zoro. And as he looked up into Zoro's eyes, for the first time he didn't find rejection, or coldness; just pained protectiveness and a soft smile.

Striding forward he tangled his hands in the rough worn leather lapels of Zoro's jacket as he dragged the man forward roughly, planting a kiss on the man's lips. The first initial press was clumsy as more of an annoyed head butt than anything else. But when Zoro didn't initially shove Sanji away he managed to recover his courage to slant his mouth across Zoro's in a hard kiss.

Just as Zoro's hands began to rise to rest gently on Sanji's back, the blond pulled away with a scowl, "You're such a pain in the ass sometimes."

"I know." Zoro agreed through a small mumble, hand slipping up to curl around the back of Sanji's neck as he pulled him in a for a full, real kiss. Tongue slipping between Sanji's parted lips as his grip tightened, pulling Sanji flush against him as the kiss deepened.

Sanji could practically hear the tension snapping in the air, as that one simple kiss broke the flood gates for something so much more intense. First kiss giving way to more, each more heated than the last as Zoro's hands began to jolt into motion as he made possessive grabs at Sanji's waist and back while teeth began to come into play as he seemed almost intent on biting Sanji rather than kissing him.

Though swiftly the initial heat faded to be replaced by a gentleness that Sanji hadn't known the man to possess. Carefully possessive touches and gentle sucking kiss as Zoro seemed to be savouring it just as much as Sanji was trying to burn every touch into his memory for any cold day where he might meet his end. The kiss continued far longer than Sanji could give time to, but when Zoro finally pulled away he still felt a yearning for more.

An embarrassed and aroused flush decorated Zoro's cheeks as he slowly pulled away, eyes still watching Sanji hesitantly as the blond was still in some form of shock after just being kissed by the man. He didn't really have time to speculate on what was next, but judging from the heated look in Zoro's eyes there was definitely more.

"We... ah..." Zoro let out an embarrassed breath as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, though the cute blush staining his cheeks was obviously apparent, "We should head out; we need to check out of the room by eleven... And I want to get to Iowa by tomorrow."

Sanji just smiled broadly, scooping up Zoro's previously discarded duffel as he agreed, "Let's go find another case."

In the vehicle Sanji had never more loved the cramped feeling of his knees digging into the dash as he revelled in the comforting heady scent of the blood stained leather jacket he currently rested his cheek on. No more rough vinyl of the seat belt used as a useless pillow, or his own arm propped up on the window sill, or even the awkward head rest that just never seemed to work properly. Instead he comfortably rested his head on Zoro's shoulder, absently staring out the window as the scenery passed by.

As Zoro managed to get the rusty old piece of shit into fourth gear he finally released the stick shift and worked his arm around Sanji's shoulders. Neither said a thing as they made their way down the quiet dusk lit highway; high beams beginning to paint dull streaks on the road as the radio played a scratchy version of 'Crazy Train', and the paper in Sanji's hands quietly crinkled as he scanned articles for possible hunts. Rattling of the old clunker contentedly lulling the two hunters into peacefulness even as Zoro's hand never stopped its casual stroking of Sanji's belt loop.

Flipping a page Sanji only grinned into the embrace as the reality of it all had him in slight disbelief that a hunt had managed to turn into so much more. Despite nearly having his heart ripped out by a demon, it seemed irrelevant now that it was in Zoro's hands. And the prospect of future hunts seemed to have grown in excitement rather than trepidation.

And despite the life style; everything had a new light. Because no matter the cramped space of the truck that gave him everlasting bruises on his knees, or the rank hotel rooms that reeked of a thousand different people, or the greasy fast food that was sure to be the true cause of his eventual death; all of it seemed like the best possible thing in the world. All because he got to share it with Zoro.

~THE END~


End file.
